Innovative tips and tricks to help you get flat abs, lose body fat, fight aging & live a healthier life. I'll even cover controversial topics that mainstream health "experts" don't understand about nutrition...the TRUTH about cholesterol & saturated fat, carbs, protein, and even superfoods you may have never heard of!

Saturday

What are the healthiest and most unhealthy condiments?

I just put together a brand new article for you that I think you'll like...

You're going to be surprised at some of the healthiest condiments (and most unhealthy condiments too) that you can put on food:

As you can see in the article, you need to beware about the ingredients in ketchup, bbq sauce, mayo, and even most salad dressings. On the other hand, some of the super healthy condiments such as mustard, guacamole, or pesto might have surprised you!

Friday

How to get deep cut abs (unusual post workout trick)

My friend Rusty Moore is a fanatic when it comes to having dense and defined abs.

I asked him what his favorite ab exercise was. Here's what he told me:

Mike,

20 years ago back in college I met a golf pro with amazing abs. When I asked him how he got such ripped deep abs he demonstrated how to effectively perform the Hanging Leg Raise. Within 4-5 months of following his routine I had the most ripped abs of my life.

...but there was a problem. Hanging Leg Raises were weakening my spine, creating an unnatural curve, and slowly bringing me bad lower back pain. The same thing happened to my workout partner at that time.

So I dropped this routine...did planks and other stabilization exercises for the next few months...and simply had O.K. abs.

But a little over a year ago, I found out a way to use the ab routine the golf pro taught me...and without risking lower back pain or back injury!

The Discovery?

---> Do hip bridges or back bridges after each and every ab workout!

[+] Lay down on an exercise mat and push your hips up high.
[+] As time passes, relax your hip flexors and push a little higher.
[+] Hold this position for 3-4 minutes.

The reason this works?

Doing too many ab exercises over time can curl the spine forward and over time weaken the spinal column. Bridging brings back the natural arch in your spine and makes it strong.

I recommend that you end each and every ab workout with some form of bridging.

After doing these you will actually feel a bit taller.

It also ensures that you don't get that "pulled forward" posture that is so common among guys who train a lot.

Monday

The government saturated fat tax?

You might have heard on the news over the past couple of weeks that the government in Denmark apparently implemented a "saturated fat tax", which imposes an extra tax on foods that have a certain % of saturated fat in them.

Now I know this type of stuff really angers a lot of people... whether it's an extra cigarette tax, a soda tax, or this new so-called "saturated fat tax".

But I don't want to delve into that argument today... I want to talk about something that's even more concerning about this particular tax, and shows how clueless governments are about nutrition.

The MAJOR issue as I see it here is that there's ZERO scientific proof that saturated fat is bad for you!

Apparently the Danish government hasn't been made aware of the new scientific findings in recent years that has completely debunked the MYTH which originated in the 1950's that saturated fat is bad for you.

If you've been a long time reader of my newsletters here, you should already know the science that saturated fat is in fact, NOT bad for you, and in some cases, can even be VERY beneficial to you, including hormonal balance, immune system function, and so on.

If you need a refresher on the some of the science of why saturated fat can actually be good for you, read these 2 articles:

Just look at the example of coconuts and coconut fat... there's not a single nutrition scientist with half a brain that would claim that coconut fat is bad for you... in fact, although it's 90% saturated fat, it's one of the healthiest fats you can eat, yet according to this Danish saturated fat tax, you'd have to pay a hefty tax if you wanted to eat healthful coconut fat.

Now to give the Danish government some credit, apparently they had already banned the use of trans fats a while back. At least they got that one right. This is something I think every government should ban, as there's no reason any human should still be ingesting artificial trans fats in this day and age that we know how deadly they really are...especially considering that there are healthier alternatives to trans fats that can be used for cooking oils, such as saturated fats!

Thursday

A link between air pollution and abdominal fat?

Study shows how air pollution can affect your belly fat:

This may sound like a weird study, but it's just more evidence that the further we stray from our natural world, the worse health we see. This applies to our degraded food supply, our stressful lives in this modern era, our water pollution, noise pollution (yes, living in a noisy city subconsciously increases our stress levels and can deteriorate health), and also, air pollution.

According to Men's Health, "Researchers at Ohio State University found that mice exposed to air pollution developed more abdominal fat, higher blood sugar levels, and more insulin resistance than mice who breathed clean air. Pollutants may trigger an increase in the number and size of fat cells."

I know this particular study was on mice, but I don't think anybody will disagree that exposure to air pollution is definitely going to have negative health effects on humans with chronic exposure. And this study just happened to show that some of those negative health effects can be on body fat and insulin resistance.

So, if you live in out in the countryside or the mountains, you can rejoice about how your clean air is helping your body!

One other not so fun fact for you regarding air pollution...

Did you know that if you live in a smoggy city, even on a sunny day in the summer, the UVB rays don't pass through the smog sufficiently enough to trigger Vitamin D production in your body. UVA rays pass through smog, but only UVB rays trigger Vitamin D production in your body, and UVB rays are blocked by smog.

So someone who lives in a smoggy city could easily end up chronically deficient in Vitamin D (even if you live in a sunny, but smoggy city such as Los Angeles), which as you know, can throw almost every hormone in your body out of whack.

... Just more bad news for air pollution. I know you don't have much choice if you live in a polluted city (except to fight against air pollution), but this is just more reason for trips out to the countryside or mountains to breath that fresh air and get your vitamin D producing sunshine, non-impeded by smog.

Want to read more of my articles about Vitamin D (one of THE most important substances in your body) ...